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Welcome, friends, to the NFC West. While not exactly a great division, it's at least an interesting one. Teams Arizona Cardinals Los Angeles Rams San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Division titles 49ers -- 19 Rams -- 16 Seahawks -- 8 Cardinals -- 3 Super Bowl appearances (winning years in bold) 49ers -- 6 (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2012) Seahawks -- 3 (2005, 2013, 2014) Rams -- 3 (1979, 1999, 2001) Cardinals -- 1 (2008) For most of the 80s and 90s, this division belonged to the 49ers with everyone else fighting for second place, but the 2002 realignment significantly shook up the power dynamics. The Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints all went to the newly formed NFC South, while the Cardinals came in from the NFC East and the Seahawks moved over from the AFC West. The 2000s was mostly defined by the Seahakws and Rams having memorable battles for the title, while the 49ers kept tripping over their dicks and the Cardinals were the Cardinals. In the early 2010s, things really kicked into high gear when Jim Harbaugh took the San Francisco job and Pete Carroll made his NFL return with the Seahawks. The two coaches reignited their college feud and Seahawks-49ers quickly became one of the best rivalries of the modern era, with awesome games and legitimate hatred between the two. And then Jed York got mad about Harbaugh and everything went to poo poo. Meanwhile, the Cardinals quietly got good for the first time in their history, while the Rams faded into obscurity as the Greatest Show On Turf stars aged out. Despite having numerous high draft picks to build around, the Rams became a laughingstock under Jeff Fisher and moved back to Los Angeles after pummeling St. Louis into apathy. Things got way more interesting in 2017. Sean McVay immediately re-energized the Rams, delivering the team's first playoff appearance since 2003. The 49ers made a bold midseason trade for Jimmy Garoppolo, which paid off with five straight wins to close the season and real upward momentum under Kyle Shanahan. The Seahawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011 and face questions about their long-term future with an aging core. And the Cardinals are staring down a potential rebuild following the retirements of Bruce Arians and Carson Palmer. If 2017 felt like a changing of the guard in this division, the 2018 offseason solidified it. The 49ers locked up Jimmy G, replaced Carlos Hyde with Jerick McKinnon, and bolstered the offensive line in free agency. The Rams doubled down on their newfound contention window, bringing in Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, and Ndamukong Suh to strengthen the defense. As of this writing, those are the clear two contenders for the division crown in 2018. Meanwhile, the Seahawks said goodbye to the LOB era, trading Michael Bennett, releasing Richard Sherman (who naturally went to the Niners), and letting key pieces like Jimmy Graham and Paul Richardson leave in free agency. The Cardinals signed Sam Bradford, released Tyrann Mathieu, and ... that's about it, really. Seems like they're really banking on a healthy David Johnson to carry them forward. Never a dull moment in the NFC West. Come and post with me as we go on this wild journey together. Benne fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Apr 2, 2018 |
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Jan 21, 2017 04:44
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The Cardinals should probably win the division next season and then won't again for like 10 years.
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Jan 21, 2017 05:01
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The 49ers make me lethargic. The only interesting thing going on for them is the growing bald spot on the back of JED's head.
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Jan 21, 2017 05:07
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Never made much sense for the Saints, Panthers, and Falcons to be in the NFC "West" anyway. Can't say I'm hurt about the 49ers falling from grace after the dominance of the 80s.
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Jan 21, 2017 05:32
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Silly Burrito posted:Never made much sense for the Saints, Panthers, and Falcons to be in the NFC "West" anyway. Can't say I'm hurt about the 49ers falling from grace after the dominance of the 80s. In 1970 it could have been: The Cowboys and the three current NFC West teams that existed in 1970 Today's NFC North without the Vikings and the Rams and 49ers The Cowboys, the Saints, and the Rams and 49ers
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Jan 21, 2017 05:47
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It's really weird that the NFL aggressively expanded into the South in the 60s, but it took them like 35 years to realize "duh, we should have a South division for the Southern teams."
Benne fucked around with this message at 06:03 on Jan 21, 2017 |
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Jan 21, 2017 05:59
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Just for fun, here's a look at the divisions before realignment. AFC East Patriots Dolphins Bills Jets Colts AFC Central Steelers Bengals Ravens Browns Titans Jaguars AFC West Broncos Raiders Chiefs Chargers Seahawks NFC East Cowboys Giants Eagles Washington Cardinals NFC Central Packers Vikings Bears Lions Bucs NFC West 49ers Rams Falcons Saints Panthers The Cardinals used to be in Chicago and St. Louis, which explains why they started in the East. The AFC Central got wacky in the 90s -- they needed to put the expansion Jags somewhere, and when the Browns came back the division had 6 teams for a few years. I can't explain why the Falcons and Saints were in the West, other than the East rivalries were cemented and they didn't want to mess things up. Honestly, the NFL is much better off with the new format. The divisions make more geographical sense (aside from the Cowboys in the East but they were never going to break up those rivalry games), the smaller sizes make the title mean more, and scheduling all divisional games in Weeks 16-17 was a stroke of genius. Benne fucked around with this message at 11:12 on Jan 21, 2017 |
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Jan 21, 2017 11:10
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How come this division has that legacy of strong defenses? Is it just consistent drafting and recruitment or what?
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Jan 21, 2017 22:28
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Benny the Snake posted:How come this division has that legacy of strong defenses? Is it just consistent drafting and recruitment or what? I know it is a joke about Seahawks fans but the actual answer here is recency bias.
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Jan 21, 2017 22:39
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King Hong Kong posted:I know it is a joke about Seahawks fans but the actual answer here is recency bias. I don't know, there might be a little more to it than that. The 49ers had a solid, what, drat near 20 years of excellent defense from around 1980 to the end of the 90s to go along with Montana/Young. They weren't actually in the NFC West at the time but if the Seahawks were good at anything it was likely to be defense for the same period (well that and throwing the ball to Largent when he was around). Yeah I guess it's just those two teams though. The Cardinals were rarely good at anything but look to have been more often competitive offensively than defensively. The Rams had a few years of good defense but both during the Dickerson years and obviously the greatest show on turf it was offense that ran that team.
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Jan 21, 2017 22:54
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I'm going to use an admittedly flawed statistic but I think it is pretty demonstrative: Since re-alignment, the NFC West, taken together, had the best scoring defense in the league from 2012 through 2015. It had an above average scoring defense in 2011. By contrast, it had the worst scoring defense from 2004 through 2008. Every other year was below average, including three years when the division had the second worst scoring defense. In that same time frame, the AFC North had only two below average seasons.
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Jan 22, 2017 00:11
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gently caress the NFC West, they don't deserve a thread.
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Jan 22, 2017 10:24
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Hey I have some questions about the 49ers
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Jan 22, 2017 10:27
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Ostentatious posted:Hey I have some questions about the 49ers Shoot.
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Jan 22, 2017 10:33
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Why is Jed York a bitch?
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Jan 22, 2017 10:54
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Super Bowl 50 and WrestleMania 31 will be the only times Levi's Stadium ever sees a champion again
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Jan 22, 2017 11:03
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Ostentatious posted:Why is Jed York a bitch? When you're swaddled in silk at birth even the finest cottons feel as abrasive as sandpaper.
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Jan 22, 2017 11:18
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Benne posted:Super Bowl 50 and WrestleMania 31 will be the only times Levi's Stadium ever sees a champion again Hahaha. gently caress you. Though part of me hates the Levi Stadium. Jed York is a fuckboi through and through. You know it hurt him when Jim told him he couldn't join the meetings because he wasn't a man. Shindragon fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Jan 22, 2017 |
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Jan 22, 2017 20:27
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The NFC west has more bird teams than any other division, so that makes it cool and good
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Jan 23, 2017 04:14
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NFCWest posters are also the most handsome/pretty of all TFF posters.
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Jan 23, 2017 04:49
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Shindragon posted:Jed York is a fuckboi through and through. You know it hurt him when Jim told him he couldn't join the meetings because he wasn't a man. This makes it boring and unfun but I pretty much believe the version of this story that goes he told York the meeting was for 'the men' which he always called the players. Or maybe it makes it better since Jed York is so unwound that he could misinterpret Harbaugh that badly, I don't know.
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Jan 23, 2017 04:53
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Bad Moon posted:NFCWest posters are also the most handsome/pretty of all TFF posters. You're welcome 
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Jan 23, 2017 05:12
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A pretty cool division with good logos and uniforms. Rams might turn it around in a year or 2 if the owner hired the right guys and is hands off, arizona always threatens to compete if they're not too injured, so it should be exciting next season.
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Jan 23, 2017 05:24
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Benne posted:Super Bowl 50 and WrestleMania 31 will be the only times Levi's Stadium ever sees a champion again I could see Levi's Stadium getting another superbowl in like 8-9 years.
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Jan 23, 2017 07:29
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Bad Moon posted:NFCWest posters are also the most handsome/pretty of all TFF posters. I'm quite handsome.
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Jan 23, 2017 08:45
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Chichevache posted:Shoot. Is that a lot of money for Colin Kaepernick?
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Jan 23, 2017 08:55
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With the Pats open to trade Garapalo for a first round pick, how likely is he gonna end up in SF?
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Jan 23, 2017 09:00
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I wonder what sucker they're going to get to coach the niners long enough for York to poo poo the bed and fire him after one season.
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Jan 23, 2017 16:52
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Krycek posted:I wonder what sucker they're going to get to coach the niners long enough for York to poo poo the bed and fire him after one season. They're Benny the Snake fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 23, 2017 19:28
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Benny the Snake posted:They're counting Kyle Shanahan Honest question here: what if he says no? Right now he has all of the leverage in the world. There's no other available candidates that the Niners have interviewed, he's in an extremely comfy spot with perfect personnel in place to keep up his good thing for at least a couple more seasons, there will likely be better jobs opening up next season (Colts, Texans and Bengals all seem possible), and his current boss is not Jed York. If you're him, I at least consider either demanding a king's ransom as one of the highest paid head coaches in the league or sticking it out til next year and avoiding the Niners tire fire.
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Jan 23, 2017 19:57
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Benne posted:I can't explain why the Falcons and Saints were in the West, other than the East rivalries were cemented and they didn't want to mess things up.
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Jan 23, 2017 20:06
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Prozach posted:his current boss is not Jed York. This I get that these coaches have yuge egos and that someone will take the job thinking that they're the one who can turn it all around. But why would one want their (likely only) shot at being an NFL HC to be in this lovely of a situation? To compare it to the average person's career, would you really take a promotion at a less stable company with an rear end in a top hat boss and little job security over your current, reliable gig working with people you get along with? The way I see it, the niners are going to have to settle for someone who is as desperate as they are. Rex Ryan is available and probably just toxic enough that SF may be his only shot to coach again. One in the Bum fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Jan 23, 2017 |
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Jan 23, 2017 20:36
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Chichevache posted:Shoot. I assume this is the preemptive answer to the question "how do you fix the problems Jed York has caused." YOLOsubmarine fucked around with this message at 21:20 on Jan 23, 2017 |
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Jan 23, 2017 21:17
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Hell yeah NFC West, let's have a party! Seahawks and Cardinals will duel for the division title next year, think the winner will come down to injury luck. After that, who knows. I could see the Rams getting good fast with proper coaching though. Wade Phillips with that D is a terrifying prospect. At least we don't have to deal with Gregggggg Williams coaching his players to headhunt our teams twice a season anymore.
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Jan 24, 2017 19:08
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Hey guys. The 49ers are... bad.
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Jan 24, 2017 19:20
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seiferguy posted:Hey guys. They also don't have a coach, GM, or functional owner, so no help there.
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Jan 24, 2017 20:34
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Man the Niners cratering is something to see. Sheesh! That rivalry was so good
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Jan 24, 2017 21:01
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The Niners' wild swing of fortunes is kind of crazy over the years. Juggernaut for most of the 80s and 90s. Laughingstock for most of the 00s. Build back up to near-juggernaut status in the 10s, only to immediately go back to laughingstock. Harbaugh's last season was totally surreal. Like all year long we kept getting these random leaks about front office dissent, and I remember the reaction of Niners fans going from "lol no" to "there's no way, they can't be that stupid" to "oh my God it's really happening." Benne fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Jan 25, 2017 |
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Jan 25, 2017 09:36
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Benne posted:going from "lol no" to "there's no way, they can't be that stupid" to "oh my God it's really happening."
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Jan 25, 2017 14:00
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I miss the Harbaugh bad lip readings.
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Jan 25, 2017 20:09
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